I’m so excited to show you this amazing waterfall chest of drawers (dresser) makeover! I showed you the ugly waterfall piece in my recent finds post yesterday. It was a free find, right here in my own neighborhood. This project was one of the quickest turnarounds I've done in a long, long, time--only FOUR days!
Vintage Waterfall Chest of Drawers
This poor guy was headed to the dumpster, and I got it just in time. I really didn’t want to paint it, but I didn’t know if I would be able to remove all the “beautiful” artwork. The dresser really was in pretty good shape besides the graffiti, and a few veneer issues. Even the drawers work really well.
*Amazon Affiliate Links included in this post for your convenience*
how to remove graffiti from furniture
I don’t usually like stripping furniture, but I thought this might be a relatively easy job since there weren’t a lot of details on the drawers. I used Citristrip and a cheap chip brush to spread it around.
How to strip a waterfall chest of drawers
I paid extra attention to the portions of the drawer that had been drawn on with sharpie markers.
This is how the drawers looked after a coat of Citristrip and then being wiped off with Lacquer Thinner.
Sanding vs Stripping
But, that really wasn’t good enough. I had to sand each of the drawers, I probably should have left the Citristrip on longer, or done another application.
I used 60, 150, then 220 grit sandpaper. Buying these multipacks of sandpaper is a lot more economical if you do a lot of projects.
Paint Sprayer for Furniture
I used some newspaper and painter’s tape to cover the top of the waterfall chest of drawers so I could use my Homeright Finish Max to paint the sides and the bottom front. I used the same blue oops paint that I recently used on my hall table.
This is after 2 very light coats of the diy chalky paint primer – latex mixed with Plaster of Paris. The next day, I did one more light coat of the chalky paint primer.
Because this oops paint is a satin sheen, I will be waxing this project.
Stain waterfall chest of drawers top
I used some Minwax PolyShades in Dark Walnut for staining the drawers and the top of this waterfall chest of drawers. I applied the stain with a small chip brush.
See the BLUE arrows? I had to make some changes to the hardware of the dresser. The metal hardware had some tortoise shell (?) inserts. One of them was broken, and I didn’t think it looked good with the blue paint, so I removed them.
The long wooden drawer pulls were covered with paper. I applied stripper to them without even considering that fact. You can see the BLUE arrow is pointing where some of the paper had been scuffed off.
This is how the wooden pulls looked after they were stripped and sanded. I painted them with a few light coats of the chalky paint primer.
Using packing paper for sanding
I sanded them in between coats with brown craft paper, the kind that comes in my packages from Amazon.
At first I thought I wasn’t going to like the blue wooden drawer pulls, but they are growing on me.
The white finial, and the yellow bird were both Christmas presents from Jamie and Andy. This picture is a good shot of the side of the dresser (which in real life, I refer to as a chest of drawers).
The old guy still has some issues, but he looks a LOT better than he did, don’t you think?
This might be one of my quickest turnarounds in a while. I picked it up last tuesday and finished it on Saturday!
Would you have saved it from the dumpster and drug it home?
gail
This is another Vintage Piece I saved from a fate worse than death!
Lisa
Hi Gail,
The tortoise shell is called Bakelite, or polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride … 😉. It is quite an historic phenomenon.
Great work! I love waterfall furniture and Bakelite 😎
Gail Wilson
Thanks Lisa for the information! What a mouthful!!!
I appreciate your comment.
gail
Cathy
Wow…what a great transformation! Love it!!’
sara
It turned out beautiful Gail! Do you know what kind of wood this is?
Gail Wilson
Sara,
No, I'm sorry--I have no idea what kind of wood this is. Most of it is covered with veneer.
gail
Michelle H.
I love the blue you did on one of the waterfall rescues. Can you tell me what the exact shade is ? It's the waterfall with the graffiti and you had to change the handle hardware. Thank you.
Gail Wilson
I'm sorry, I can't be of much help. As stated in the post . . . I used the same blue oops paint that I recently used on my hall table.
Oops is a mistint from Home Depot.
I can tell you my two favorite colors of navy blue are NAVAL https://www.myrepurposedlife.com/navy-blue-writing-desk-hutch/
and Dark Denim https://www.myrepurposedlife.com/mid-century-hutch/
I hope that helps!
gail
Kathy
What beautiful piece, I was struck at how the lines of the wood were matched up on the drawer fronts
Gail Wilson
Thank you so much Kathy. It means a lot that you loved it enough to leave a comment!
gail
therese marie ercolani
Gail - I have 2 waterfall dressers that I want to repurpose. How did you save the detail strip on the front? I have detail on the front and I am afraid if I sand it down lightly it will remove the detail? Any suggestions??
Gail Wilson
Since I used the Citristrip first, I didn't have to sand very much. It's sort of an inlay, so you would have to sand heavy to damage it.
So, I recommend using Citristrip first!
gail
Jessica
Stumbled upon your entry here as I am looking up ways to refinish my own waterfall set. Just picked up two new pieces, and they are in varying degrees of wear. This was a great source of info for refinishing it and not just slapping some paint on there! Thank you!
Gail Wilson
Awesome Jessica!
I'm so happy that you found my site helpful.
gail
Rebecca
What a wonderful save. I'm amazed that you got al of the "artwork" off. Painting the sides and staining the front really highlight the beautiful waterfall patten of the wood.
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
Thank you Rebecca. It was easier than most refinishing projects.
Cathy
I have a waterfall dresser that is almost the twin of yours. On mine, the top drawer looks like burled wood and the bottom 3 are V-d like yours. When you stripped the drawers you mentioned you should have done a second coat of the stripper. Would this have meant less sanding? My hands and arms don't like sanding any more and without the control I would be concerned that I would go through the veneer.
I like the hardware on your top drawer. It's too bad that they (whoever "they" are) didn't put them all the way down the front. If you hadn't painted the wooden handles would you have stained them the same colour as the drawers? The hardware on my dresser is the most bizarre looking hardware I have ever seen. They're round (3" across), made of a kind of orangy plastic, tortoiseshell-y looking material and in the centre is a brushed brass-ish circle (2" across) with concentric circle grooves. Really not that fond of them other than the fact they are odd. With my luck I'd throw them away and find out later they were worth a lot of money. Need to do some research first. I bought this off Kijiji at a great price. The lady said it was her great grandmother's. No one took a sharpie to mine but the sides are covered in stickers and the spongy bits from the backs of hooks. Not pretty!
How many coats of stain did you put on? And when you poly how many coats will you do? This will be first stripping project in over 40 years so I'm a little rusty.
Thanks as always for a great post! I am in constant amazement of your imagination for looking at a piece of furniture and seeing what it could look like.
Cathy
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
I should have done a second coat of stripper, or at least left the first coat on longer. It left too much goo behind. I think it would mean less sanding.
The wood handles were very strange wood. It almost seemed like they wouldn't even "take" the stain.
They all have the tortoise shell plastic pieces, I'm not a fan.
I only put one coat of stain on everything. I will probably do two coats of poly (probably semi-gloss)
Stripping products have changed a lot over the years. Nothing works like it did 40 years ago. 🙁
good luck Cathy and have fun! Keep me posted!
gail
Carla from Kansas
Yes I would have saved but would have used black paint not blue.
Cynthia Chilson Finger
Absolutely I would have dragged that piece home and saved it from the dumpster. You did a great job transforming it, Gail, and someone will be lucky to have a well made, solid piece of furniture in their home. Now lets just hope it doesn't have sharpies in it! 😀 Take care, Cynthia
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
It looks like the same friend who took the blue hall table home wants this latest transformation. If that's the case it will be well loved and cared for. I was so thankful I got there in time to rescue this chest of drawers.
Betsy
I LOVE the transformation and I'm so happy you didn't paint over that gorgeous wood!
Kim
I was worried you were going to destroy the wonderful woodwork with paint as I was reading, but very relieved to see you brought its beauty back. The painted sides and handles show off the wood quite nicely. Great work.
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
Kim,
I tried to do the best I could. A few of the drawers had some veneer issues, but I think it just adds to the charm.
I'm happy you liked the outcome.
gail
Mindi
Gail, obviously I have been under a rock this past week, and sick so I have missed a lot. I think your makeover is gorgeous! I know how much work stripping is and I am happy to see it worked on the sharpies! Good to know with kids. hee hee! I love the mix of stain and paint too! What a great save from the dumpster! Way to go!
Susan
I think it is amazing that you transform so many pieces and save them from landfill! It is a gift to be able to breathe new life into unwanted things. I think this chest of drawers looks so much better! I love when your posts pop into my Facebook feed - thanks for sharing.
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
Susan,
I feel very fortunate to be able to do what I do, and was so thankful that I got to this piece just in time. Thanks for hopping over from facebook. By liking and commenting on my facebook posts, you will see more of my updates.
I love sharing!
gail
Bliss
I like it. Never would of thought of salvaging that without using paint.
mj
Oops, sorry, Gail. I was unaware of "hijacking. " Will try not to do it again. Hope I'm forgiven..? MJ
Julie @ follow your heart woodworking
I think you did a fabulous job on this piece, your choice of paint and stain is perfect.
For those who don't like the handles... do people not know that (if it was their piece) they could always buy new handles, matching or not to make it less "robot-like" ???
And for those (on facebook mainly) who don't like you painting it... did they not read it was HEADED TO THE DUMPSTER. I mean my goodness, it was going to be thrown out. So would they prefer you just let it go to a pile of garbage??
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
Thanks for having my back Julie! 🙂 I suppose most people think that it goes in my home, and that I'm "calling it done". You are so right... I barely got it before it was tossed away. You know how it is... you can't please everyone.
I would love to figure up how many pounds or projects I've saved from the landfill....
thanks for replying to MJ about the WEB FRAMES.... never heard of that before.
gail
Connie
Can you strip veneers? I have a dresser & vanity very similar, both are veneers. Thanks
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
Connie,
These drawer fronts and the top of this dresser are both veneers. Some of it had chipped off on a couple of the drawers, I sanded a little to make it a smoother transition. When stained, it looks slightly different, but okay.
When sanding veneer, you have to be very careful, because you can sand clear through it.
gail
Ace of Clubs
I can't disagree or challenge anything you've done. Great job, and love the shade of blue. I wouldn't have changed anything Kate, but agree with the robot look, but I think that look gives it a unique look.
MJ, the drawers would look really great with a high gloss (glasslike), finish, but I don't know why you don't like this piece. It's really a beautiful piece. Great job, Gail.
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
Thank you for your comment. I appreciate that you like what I did to this piece of waterfall furniture. I will be putting more poly on the drawers when the weather permits. 🙂
thanks again!
gail
MJ
Ace:
Can't recall that i said i didn't like it. I don't call it "beautiful" though. Gail has done some terrific work I'd grab in a minute. This one is not one of those. That's all. Maybe when it's polyed in the good weather I'll think again.
Keep on keeping on, girl!
MJ
Ace of Clubs
MJ, "Usually I love your work, but this one doesn't appeal to me. It looks stripped and bare-naked to my eyes". If that doesn't say I don't like it, nothing does.
Just disagreeing with you.
Ace of Clubs
Kate
Don't you wonder what was going through the mind of the person with the Sharpie? Sheesh.
I like the waterfall style and definite would have taken that home. I do think your dresser fronts could use a bit of shine or gloss to really bring out the design. Would waxing do that? I would have changed out the top drawer pulls to something more simple to match the rest of the handles (the dresser sort of looks like a robot to me with the top "eyes" - maybe I have too much imagination!). Those are beautiful pulls, but they somehow don't go with the rest of it. Maybe if you painted the end caps of the long handles the same color as the drawer pulls (as they were originally), it would unify the whole thing. Maybe that's why the long handles were originally papered - to blend in more with the drawers and let the top handles stand out. I think there is some competition going on between the top drawers and the rest of the drawers - it's like there are warring focal points. I think one think we have to consider is that when we paint something, it often shifts the overall design and we have to rethink those design elements. Did that make any sense at all?
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
Kate,
I should have mentioned in the post that I plan to do more poly on all the stain when the weather permits. 🙂
I appreciate you input, but I think you're thinking too hard on this. hehehe Being a chest of drawers it will probably land in someone's bedroom, rarely seen by anyone but the people who buy it.
So, to answer your question, it does make sense, but I'm not really sure I have the knowledge to make design decisions such as these. I would rather be sawing. 🙂
gail
Kate
Yeah, I'm great at giving advice when I don't have to do any of the hard work! Over-thinking is my specialty. I know that if I had that dresser in my bedroom, the robot look would totally bug me.
Revital Mitchell
So Glad you saved it! It turned out beautiful! Although it isn't the type of furniture that appeals to me, you did a great job! Your work is beautiful and creative.
Lindsay B
We recently inherited almost the exact same dresser. Only difference is the pulls are different. I wanted to do something to make it look nicer for our sons room (once again I say inherited). One of our drawers is missing a chunk of the veneer I would say roughly 4" long by 1.5" wide. How would I go about fixing this? The only thing I could thing of is taking that drawer out and cutting the bottom open and adding legs and making it an open shelf. Would that look right?or is there an easy fix for the missing veneer. Your post was a blessing for me, so thank you.
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
If you would be willing to paint some of it, you could patch the missing veneer. If you wanted to make a shelf unit, I would remove more than one drawer, or maybe the top drawer? I don't think there is any need to add feet. Please know that on most of these pieces, the drawers are NOT interchangeable. If you would like to send me an email with some pictures, I could definitely give better advice.
gail
MJ
Veneer is available for sale. I've seen it in woodworking catalogs.
Laurie Kearnes
Amazing transformation, Gail! I'm so impressed! I paid particular attention to your sanding in this project. I see you had a picture of your Ryobi sander - can you tell me more about it and if you really like it? Do you use other sanders? Smaller - perhaps? I hate sanding, actually, but know how necessary it is, and I want to buy a great tool or tools. Thank you for your recommendations.
I also was amazed how you used the brown paper to sand between coats of paint on the drawer pulls. You're amazing. Thanks for that tip!
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
Laurie,
I only use orbital sanders. I actually have THREE ryobi sanders. The old blue one, a new green (corded) orbital and a new green (battery) operated sander.
I only noticed a difference between the two green ones lately. The corded one seems to have a slightly more powerful and MORE random pattern to it. The corded one seems to vibrate more than it spins, which means that you shouldn't apply as much pressure to it.
I really don't like having to drag around an extension cord, and many times my piece is too far from an outlet, so the battery operated Ryobi is fabulous!
I did a lot of sanding on these dressers due to the fact that there was a lot of gunk left behind by the stripper. That is why I chose to use the corded Ryobi sander.
I also have a mouse sander and a palm sander, but they rarely see the light of day. If you only want to buy one, I would suggest either of the Ryobi (green ones) depending on what kind of projects you will be doing.
LOVE using the brown paper bags, a trick I learned from Refunk My Junk-her book is available on my sidebar for only $5 !! If you paint furniture, I highly recommend it.
gail
girlfromwva
LOVE how you saved this piece, especially the wood parts. i would have drug it home for sure!
Patty
I would have grabbed that old boy in a New York second and drug him home some way especially a freebie. I love the oops color paint with the stain it turned out beautiful. Are you going to keep him? He looks right at home in the picture. Beautiful job Gail.
Laurel Stephens
A stunning chest, Gail! I'm so glad you saved the beautiful pattern, and I love the way the dark blue paint frames and draws attention to the vintage craftsmanship. Bravo!
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
Laurel,
I didn't really have a plan. I just let the piece speak to me. I'm so happy you love it!
gail
Shay Bush
Hi Gail,
I just started following your blog and enjoy seeing your amazing transformations. Can you tell me why you mix Plaster of Paris with your paint? Is it is used as a primer and it adheres better? I thought chalk paint could be applied directly without prep.
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
Shay,
I use plaster of paris in my semi-gloss paint to make it more like chalk paint allowing it to be painted (mostly) without any prep. It works great in my sprayer, and allows me to finish my projects with faster with a fabulous finish! (After two quick coats of the diy chalky paint primer, and two coats of a semi-gloss, my piece is ready to wait for a new home)
Very little prep, and very little final sealing and/or waxing.
Welcome to My Repurposed Life, so happy to have a new friend!
gail
Dawn Stagg
I love this! I'm guessing that by waxing the sides, it turned it the darker blue. Hubby loves it too he is a blue fan. Would be nice to see transformation from light blue to the dark side by side. ( what tint did you use?) I would have never thought the wax would make such a difference in color! Very nice Gail! And thanks for saving the wood as much as you could!
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
Dawn,
I must tell the truth! I haven't waxed it yet. I wanted to share it on the blog, and I absolutely ran out of time. (I spent a great deal of time on Saturday working on the picket fence)
We've turned very cold and snowy, so I will wax it as soon as I can and I'll be sure to take a photo of how much it changes the blue.
I'll also be putting a coat of poly on the wood. I tend to be a little on the impatient side.
thanks for your sweet comment!
gail
Ronda Keating
I love it. I think the wood finish mixed with the paint is perfect and the color you picked is beautiful. Wonderful job! ?
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
I love furniture with a two toned look... it's my favorite style.
chris from midwest cottage and finds
Love love love this piece!!! So happy you embraced the wood grain on this one...and you know I am a "paint it all" kid of gal! A++
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
Chris!
Happy to hear from you! There were a few issues with the veneer on the drawers, but I think it just adds to the charm and history of the piece. BUT, I must tell you I HATE stripping furniture!
gail
Cheryl in Wisconsin
I would have saved it from the dumpster and brought it home, but nothing I would have done to it would have been as successful as what you've done here. The blue looks very regal, and the wood grain is beautiful. I'm impressed with your removal of the 'art work'. Nice job!
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
I was so nervous about that graffiti. They don't call sharpies PERMANENT markers for nothing! I typically would have sanded the finish off the drawer fronts (because they are flat) But I was afraid I would ruin the veneer if I sanded from the "get-go".
Strippers don't work like they did 30 years ago, which is a good thing for our mother earth, but it sure makes it more difficult to strip furniture.
gail
Julie
It's stunning! I'm so glad you were able to save that beautiful woodwork. Far too many times I've seen these dressers just slapped over with paint, thanks for saving it in a good way.
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
I was just so happy I got to it before it landed in that dumpster! I was gone all day the day before, so it could have been a much different story had Max been filling up the dumpster the day before. How sad would that have been!
gail
MJ
It's a nice piece with dust catchers between the drawers. (What do they call those boards between drawers that you find in good furniture? )
Usually I love your work, but this one doesn't appeal to me. It looks stripped bare-naked to my eyes. I'd like it better with a topcoat of poly--satin maybe, or even gloss. Maybe it's because I can see my waterfall desk from here, with its original sheen on the veneer. I know you had a mess to start with and had to make decisions, but looking at that stripped veneer made me sad.....Not your fault, I know, but still......sad.....
Why does the chalky paint primer look blue in one photo but black in the finished shots?????
I liked the painted one.
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
MJ
You have a good point about the Poly. I used one coat of the polyshades. I ran out of time, and so wanted to share it on the blog that I didn't have time for it to cure in order to put additional coats of poly on the stain.
I'm not sure which shots you think look "black" They all look blue to me. In the very first picture, there is only chalky paint on the sides. In the other pictures there are two more light coats of the same paint without plaster of paris in it.
I hope that helps you understand my thought process!
gail
MJ
Ah, the four days!!!
I guess the color difference must have something to do with my computer. Or some such. The black -looking sides look a tiny bit blue tonight. Must be the light in the room? Dawn seems to have seen a darker color too.
Some things are unexplainable. So I give up! LOL
Thanks for sharing. Am looking forward to your next transformation.
Julie @ follow your heart woodworking
MJ - Those "boards between drawers" are called WEB FRAMES.
MJ
Well, who'dathot it!!!!
Thanks , Julie. I took a quick look at your shop rehab post and will look some more later. I can see why you know the name of those thingys..LOL
Great looking site.
Any idea WHY they are called that? Quick search online brought up nothing. I'll look some more. Maybe it's in one of the OLD furniture books......if I can find which box i packed them in....
Thanks again for the enlightenment.......hmmm...I wonder how web frames would do as the answer to a question on quiz night at the pizza parlor? I'd win that one, for sure.......LOL
Regards, MJ
Julie @ follow your heart woodworking
Not sure the web part, but they do like like a frame when they are made. I made them for my buffets, you can see here: http://followyourheartwoodworking.blogspot.ca/2010/01/buffet-hutch-part-four-buffet-sides-and.html
(Didn't mean to hijack Gail's post!)
Maragret
Very, very nice! When I look at it from a distance, it almost looks like the top drawer pulls are eyes with lashes!
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
I KNOW
I see a face every time I look at it. 🙂
gail
Sherry Fram
Beautiful makeover! Love the pattern the wood grain makes on the front & the pulls are perfect! The stain & the blue were made for each other!
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
I wondered what people would think about all of the handles. The top two, I only cleaned them up. I didn't know what else to do with them.
As for the wooden handles, I had no idea what they would look like with stain, so I opted for paint. I really expected all of the handles to be an issue with my "friends" who give me such honest feedback. 🙂
gail
Heather
What a transformation! When I saw all that Sharpie nonsense, I was a bit worried. Silly me. Love the way you handled the color - just the right touches. Beautiful!
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
Heather,
I would normally "sand" the finish off of a piece. But those sharpies really made me nervous. The citristrip worked like magic on it. Whew! my lucky day. That's why this was such a quick turnaround.
gail
Stacey L
I'm sorry, but this is ugly. I have a similar dresser that I hate as well, so I was excited to see what you did to it, so maybe I could copy it with mine! But I was quite disappointed to see it almost the same, minus the stickers. I really just don't like these style of dressers, I guess. Mine have 2 big yellowish round plastic drawer pulls on each drawer (more than half are actually mssing) which are uglier than the dresser. At first I thought I liked the solid wood "handle" on your lower drawers but after looking at it again, I'm not sure. The 2 handles on your top drawer look like eyes and the whole thiing looks like a bird to me. If you come up with any ideas or have done a dresser like this in the past, I'd be glad to hear about it! I thought about chopping it off below the second drawer and making a hope-chest style bench by adding feet. Have another dresser I'm going to do that with as well, but I don't know if the rounded edge on top would work out ok.
gail@myrepurposedlife.com
I spent several days on this piece, so I can't see how you say it was the same as before except the STICKERS? That was sharpie markers-permanent markers... not for the faint of heart. 😉
Waterfall isn't my favorite type of furniture, I wouldn't put this in my home-not my style. That being said, I do have a beautiful waterfall cedar chest that was given to me 50 years ago because my aunt passed away and I'm her namesake. I won't ever paint it, and I love it because it still contains her items, but only for that reason.
I love cutting up furniture, but I try to save those projects for items that are in disrepair. This piece had great bones and was very sturdy, no saw needed.
Thanks for your honest feedback, I don't expect everyone to love all of my projects. To each his own.
gail